Norton resigned as Secretary March 16, 2006, announcing that "she's giving up the Cabinet position to set 'new goals to achieve in the private sector,' and settle with her husband 'closer to the mountains we love in the West.'" [1]

Contents

Background

At the time that she was being considered for the appointment by President George W. Bush, her connections to corporations deeply involved in the metals industry were under scrutiny.

Norton was then Colorado Attorney General (1991-99). As a "negotiator of the $206 billion national tobacco settlement, Norton represented Colorado and 45 other states as part of the largest lawsuit settlement in history."[2]

Norton was listed with the Colorado Legislature as a lobbyist for, among others, NL Industries, a Houston company formerly known as National Lead Company. Norton's Denver law firm -- Brownstein Hyatt & Farber -- was also listed with the U.S. Congress as a lobbyist for NL Industries.[3]

"Prior to her election as Attorney General, Norton served in Washington, D.C. as Associate Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior, overseeing endangered species and public lands legal issues for the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service. She also worked as Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and, from 1979 to 1983, as a Senior Attorney for the Mountain States Legal Foundation."[5]

"Norton graduated magna cum laude from the University of Denver in 1975 and earned her law degree with honors from the same university in 1978. Before becoming Interior Secretary, Norton was senior counsel at Brownstein, Hyatt & Farber, P.C."[6]